‘Big Pimpin’

Vietnam: L Co Ranger with a chrome P38.

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on Sunday, January 22nd, 2017 at 01:00 and is filed under As Seen On Facebook, History.
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The chrome or nickel plating was something that a lot of guys were doing because of the corrosion protective qualities for Vietnam. I knew a multi-tour type who went over in the early part of the war, like before the LBJ build-up, as an enlisted adviser, and when he went back for subsequent tours, he took a sidearm with him that he’d had plated, specifically because of the corrosion problems he’d encountered on his first tour. I saw the pistols he had taken, one S&W revolver and one Browning High-Power, and went “WTF…?”, which led to the explanation. Additional comment he made was that if he’d been able to figure out how to get his issued weapon done the same way, he would have.

Back then, the modern coatings simply weren’t available, and the nickel or chrome plate option was pretty much it. Some guys felt that the increased corrosion resistance and reduced need for maintenance were worth the loss of camouflage effect…